Kaname Izakaya and Shochu Bar

Oishii.

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After 17 years of business at its International District location, Takohachi, the Japanese joint famous for its cheap, delicious ramen, closed its doors last June. In its wake comes Kaname Izakaya and Shochu Bar, which opened Monday.

Although he’ll try to preserve Takohachi’s reputation for homestyle Japanese cooking at fair prices, owner Todd Kuniyuki says Kaname's ramen will be better. He brought in a Japanese ramen chef to design his broth, which is mostly pork-based, as opposed to Takohachi’s chicken-based broth, and puts daily kitchen ops in the hands of Chef Dean Yari, former owner of Togetsu.

In addition to ramen, expect a roll call of Japanese favorites (teriyaki, donburi, and tonkatsu, a house obento, etc.), plus a few regional specialties. At lunch, nothing on the menu tops $10, and nothing on the dinner menu is over $15.

There’s no alcohol served at lunch, but hit the bar in the back after work, and you’ll find shochu straight up, or in cocktails like a shochu screwdriver or shochu with sesame milk.